Pediatric urine collector



Feb. 13, 1968 R. E. ERICSON ETQAL 3,368,561

PEDIATRIC URINE COLLECTOR Filed July 28, 1964 INVENTORS. fic'ra! United States Patent 3,368,561 PEDIATRIC URINE COLLECTOR Richard E. Ericson, Barrington, and John K. Lloyd, Skokie, Ill., assignors to The Kendall Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed July 28, 1964, Ser. No. 385,615 Claims. ('Cl. 128-275) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pediatric urine collector adapted for adhesive attachment to the childs body and having an upper chamber into which the childs outer genitals protrude and a lower chamber for collection of the urine. The two chambers are separated by a thin funnel-like throat formed by downwardly converging sealed areas which lie in a plane substantially normal to the plane of the top and bottom seals of the collector so as to make each of the two chambers three-dimensional.

This invention is concerned with urine collectors for infants and small children particularly collectors of the type normally fastened to the patients body and into which urination occurs in the normal manner.

Urine samples are periodically required for diagnosls and treatment of various body disorders. Collection of such samples is no problem with older children and adults but with very young children and infants unable to urinate at will, to whom directions are incomprehensible and catheterization is undesirable and perhaps even dangerous, collection or urine samples is a real problem. Solutions to this problem have been proposed from time to time and collectors of the type illustrated in the Fowler Patent No. 2,548,149 and more recently in the Hill Patent No. 2,877,769 have been well received. The urine collector of this invention is an improvement over pediatric urine collectors known prior to this invention.

It is an object of this invention to provide a pediatric urine collector which efliciently collects the urine, segregates it, is readily and easily detached without spilling the contents and, above all, is comfortable when worn by infants and small children.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the specification and the drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 illustrates a typical pediatric urine collector of this invention in the folded condition as viewed from the front or body engaging side.

FIGURE 2 illustrates the collector of FIGURE 1 as view from the side.

FIGURE 3 illustrates the collector of FIGURE 1 as viewed from the rear.

FIGURE 4 illustrates a partial front view of a modified urine collector of the invention particularly adapted for female infants.

FIGURE 5 is a cross section of FIGURE 4 showing more clearly the modification.

FIGURE 6 illustrates pictorially the collector of FIG- URES 1, 2 and 3 in use.

FIGURE 7 illustrates in cross section, the arrangement of the collector of FIGURE 1 particularly with respect to the babys body.

It is undesirable to have an infants body exposed to raw urine for obvious reasons. Hence the urine should be segregated, if possible, immediately upon its passage. Segregation of the urine is one of the features of the collector of this invention.

It is also desirable to maintain minimum rubbing contact between the babys tender sexual parts and the collector while the latter is being worn. In this respect the unique structure of the collector of this invention provides sufficient clearance for the genitals that such rubbing normally does not occur.

Referring oncemore to the drawings:

In FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, collector 10 is formed-of two film panels, front panel 23 and back panel 24 which are preferably integral panels of a flat tubular structure but the panels may be joined by a thin seal at the side edges preferably an electronic heat seal. At any rate, the panels 23 and 24 are sealed together in the sealed areas 17 and 18 to form a bottom chamber 11 and a top chamber 25 (FIGURE 7), connected .by a thin throat 19. The panels 23 and 24 are also sealed together in the sealed areas 12 and 13 with ,sealsthat are normally in a plane substantially vertical to the plane of scaled areas 17 and 18. This is best shown in FIGURE 7. When the container is folded, however, as in FIGURES l, 2 and 3, the ends fold into a square configuration with the seals 12 and 13 lying substantially in the plane of the sealed areas 17 and 18.

In the embodiments illustrated in FIGURES 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7 there is applied to the front of panel 23 and extending at least in an area surrounding the aperture 16 but preferably extending substantially across panel 23 above the sealed areas 17 and 18, an adhesive tape 14 having pressure sensitive adhesive 14a both on its front and back surfaces. Alternatively, a coating of pressure sensitive adhesive 14a might be applied directly to the front panel in the desired area. In the embodiment shown, the pressure sensitive adhesive on the back of the tape 14 adheres it to the panel 23. The adhesive 14a exposed on the front of panel 23 is covered with a facing strip 15 such as polyethylene, Mylar, cellulose triacetate, silicone-coated paper or other well-known facing materials for pressure sensitive adhesives. This strip, as is shown, preferably extends somewhat beyond the adhesive surface to facilitate its removal therefrom. An aperture 16 of generally elliptical shape and approximately 1 /2 inches in length is made prior to making the seal 13. This aperture extends through the facing strip 15 through the adhesive or adhesive tape 14 and through the front panel 23. If desired, however, an unapertured facing may be put on after the aperture 16 is made, whereupon the facing would act to cover the aperture.

In practice, the facing 16 is removed, the seals 12 and 13 are placed in their normal unfolded position as shown in FIGURE 7 to open the chambers and then the adhesive surface is pressed against the baby in the proper position with the outer genitals protruding into the chamber 25. The embodiment shown in FIGURES 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 is operative with either male or female infants. In FIGURES 4 and 5, however, a modification particularly adapted for female infants is shown. In this modification, the collector 30 is shown as formed from a tubular film 31, the front and back panels of which are sealed as before by seals 37 and 38 to provide a narrow throat 39. The adhesive tape 34 again preferably extends over approximately the same area and the end seal 33 has the same relationship. The facing 35 has a portion cut away, however, just below the hole 36- and projecting from this cut-away portion and adhered to the adhesive 34 is a portion of a triangular-prism-shaped piece 50 of soft resilient material such as felt or surgical sponge material. The preferred material is a soft urethane rubber or natural rubber sponge but it is not critical. This wedge is inserted at the bottom between the labia majora. When the wedge is so positioned, the urine is emitted in a stream which does not trickle around the edges of the hole 39.

Sealing is used in the collector of this invention to provide a number of desirable features. The downwardly converging sealed areas 17 and 18 not only separate the tubular structure into upper and lower chambers but they also provide an inclined funnel-like drainway into the lower chamber. The unsealed portion between the sealed areas provides a slit-like drain or throat through which the urine flows into the lower chamber. As the lower chamber becomes filled the weight of the urine causes the slit-like throat to narrow but it does not become a watertight valve. However, it does serve the function of preventing the urine from spilling out in volume if the collector is up-ended momentarily, and it does'segregate the urine from the baby.

But, in addition, the downwardly converging sealed areas help in making the upper and lower chambers threedimensional. These sealed areas confine the central portion of tubular structure to one plane whereas the top and bottom seals normally confine the ends of the tubular structure into planes roughly normal to the plane of the central portion. Thus when the seals are in their normal position both the top and bottom chamber assume a three-dimensional shape. It is still possible, however (and is a desirable feature), to fold the ends so that they lie fiat substantially paralleling the plane of the central portion. This is illustrated in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3.

While the preferred material of the collectors of this invention is substantially transparent, extruded thermoplastic film preferably of the order of /2 to 3 mils in thickness, opaque film and films of other thickness may be used being obviously less desirable. But in addition to extruded tubular films, sheet films and moisture impervious paper coated with wax, thermoplasic resins, silicones and the like may be made into tubes by heat sealing, gluing or other appropriate means and thereafter converted into the collectors of this invention.

We claim:

1. A pediatric urine collector comprising a tubular structure of water impermeable material including a top seal and a bottom sea-l respectively closing the top and bottom of said structure, an upper chamber and a lower chamber within said structure, a pair of separated downwardly converging sealed areas in each of which opposite sides of said tubular structure are sealed together, said sealed areas, disposed intermediate said top and bottom seals, forming a partial closure between said chambers, an unsealed throat between said downwardly eonverging sealed areas joining said upper and lower chambers, an elongated aperture in said upper chamber suitable 45 adhesive, said top and bottom seals being disposed in a plane substantially normal to the plane of said sealed areas when said tubular structure is unfolded so that both said upper and lower chambers assume a three-dimensional shape.

2. The urine collector of claim 1 wherein the seals are heat-seals.

3. The urine collector of claim 1 wherein the pressure sensitive adhesive is part of an adhesive tape bearing pressure sensitive adhesive on both major surfaces thereof.

4. The urine collector of claim 1 wherein the pressure sensitive adhesive extends to the side edges of said tubular structure as defined by said downwardly converging sealed areas.

5. The urine collector of claim 1 wherein the tubular structure is integral.

6. The urine collector of claim 1 wherein the tubular structure is of thermoplastic film.

7. The urine collector of claim 1 wherein the tubular structure is of water impervious coated paper.

8. The urine collector of claim 1 wherein the downwardly converging sealed areas extend to the side edges of said tubular structure.

9. The urine collector of claim 1 wherein a triangularprism-shaped pad is disposed immediately below said aperture with a face of said pad adherent to said pressure sensitive adhesive and with an edge of said pad substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis of said aperture.

10. The urine collector of claim 9 wherein the pad is of resilient foam.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,333,297 11/1943 Cohen et a1 128-295 2,484,356 10/ 1949 Ribeiro et al. 128-295 2,548,149 4/1951 Fowler 128-295 2,800,269 7/1957 Smith 128275 XR 3,077,883 2/1963 Hill 128-295 3,189,252 6/1965 Miller 128275 XR 3,200,415 8/1965 Breece 128295 3,292,626 12/1966 Schneider 128295 FOREIGN PATENTS 863,295 3/1961 Great Britain.

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner.

C. F. ROSENBAUM, Examiner. 

